Chapter 33-“First Encounter With The Chieftain, Tongue-Ripper Warden!”

"Why does it feel like I'm getting closer to the edge?"

After exploring the Feeding Cavern for over half an hour, Li Yao felt a bit suspicious.

"Couldn't they have set up a map like in those online games from my previous life?"

The cave system was vast and intricate, forcing Li Yao to rely on markings to ensure he wasn't retracing his steps.

However, the breeding zone he was searching for remained elusive.

Instead,the frequency of monster encounters was decreasing, as if he was approaching the outskirts of the cave.

With that realization, Li Yao halted his steps.

And the moment he turned around—

A sudden chill surged through the air.

In the next instant, a sharp sound of something slicing through the air rang out behind him.

Li Yao instinctively bent forward, trying to evade.

But the attacker was faster!

"BANG!"

From the moment he heard the sound to the instant the attack landed on him, it had been barely a heartbeat.

A wet, viscous sensation spread from the back of his neck.

Li Yao turned his head.

A massive creature covered in translucent, sticky fluid emerged before his eyes.

Its body resembled a lizard, with a long, sinuous tail. Lacking any outer skin, its exposed muscle fibers pulsed grotesquely.

Its head was long and pointed, filled with rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth—three layers deep.

And from within its maw, a barbed, several-meter-long tongue was lodged firmly against the back of Li Yao's head.

No damage.

Just pure humiliation.

Li Yao could even feel the creature's thick, unknown secretion trickling down his back from his nape.

He swiftly pulled away and used Identify.

[Tongue-Ripper Warden]

[Level 22 (Chieftain)]

[HP: 120,000]

[Strength: 615]

[Spirit: 214]

[Agility: 720]

[Endurance: 631]

[Skills: Exoskeleton LV5, Dynamic Vision LV2]

"What terrifying stats!"

Li Yao couldn't help but click his tongue in surprise.

However, as a boss-tier monster, the Tongue-Ripper Warden possessed remarkably few skills—most likely passive ones.

This kind of monster was among the toughest to deal with, especially in the early game, when professionals had limited abilities.

Their absurdly high stats often made it nearly impossible to even break their defenses.

"SWISH!"

The Tongue-Ripper Warden retracted its tongue into its maw.

At the same time—

Its two hind legs, standing upright, tensed as its muscles bulged violently, reptilian veins throbbing.

"BOOM!"

The ground beneath it shattered.

Li Yao had almost no time to react before a massive shadow engulfed him.

"Its speed is insane. Its agility stat is nearly twice mine—it's normal that I can't keep up."

Li Yao coolly assessed the situation.

"Slash, slash, slash!"

In a fraction of a second—

The Tongue-Ripper Warden had already slashed at him dozens of times with its razor-sharp forelimbs.

Li Yao remained unmoved.

Yet the Tongue-Ripper Warden suddenly sprang back, its hollow eyes filled with wariness.

A few seconds passed.

The monster's posture shifted—it lowered its head to the ground and sniffed sharply.

Li Yao narrowed his eyes.

"High combat intelligence. It took mere moments for it to realize I'm in an 'unattackable' state."

"And its sense of smell is sharp."

"It must have detected the Void Mantis."

"But without an anti-stealth skill, it can't pinpoint its location for now."

At this point, the Tongue-Ripper Warden had completely disregarded Li Yao.

Its entire body tensed, its head swiveling slightly, remaining on high alert for an ambush.

The moment they engaged, Li Yao had already sent orders for his three chess pieces to converge.

The Void Mantis, being less than 500 meters away, had long arrived at the scene, lying in wait for his signal.

"They're here."

From his perception, Predator and Bluebird were just around the corner behind him.

The Tongue-Ripper Warden immediately lunged toward them!

But at that very moment—

The Void Mantis struck.

[-7051]

[-14320]

[-4132]

"HISSSS!"

A pained screech erupted from the Tongue-Ripper Warden.

Almost simultaneously—

The ground shattered. A blizzard descended.

"SWISH!"

The Tongue-Ripper Warden gritted through the pain and leapt sideways, narrowly avoiding both incoming skills!

It immediately retaliated, slashing toward the Void Mantis—

But its target had already vanished.

Meanwhile, Predator intercepted the Tongue-Ripper Warden.

Despite taking continuous hits, its immense health pool made it impossible for the Tongue-Ripper Warden to take it down quickly.

With Void Mantis still in stealth cooldown and Bluebird only able to deal chip damage from afar, the battle seemed unfavorable.

Yet—

A smile curled at the corner of Li Yao's lips as he whispered:

"It's over."

A single snowflake drifted onto the Tongue-Ripper Warden.

[-91]

As the Glacial Storm expanded to cover the entire battlefield, the Tongue-Ripper Warden had nowhere left to run.

The damage was negligible—

But the slow effect had taken hold.

And then—

The earth cracked, jagged rocks erupted from below.

The Tongue-Ripper Warden tried to dodge—

But slowed as it was, it was powerless.

Double slow effect.

The Void Mantis appeared.

"Strike while it's weak!"

[-6142]

[-29534 (Weak Point Attack)]

[-4412]

[-154 (Weak Point Attack)]

[-621]

[…]

The Fracture debuff lasted only five seconds—

But in that short span, the Void Mantis' terrifying damage left the Tongue-Ripper Warden heavily wounded.

Following Li Yao's precise orders, the Void Mantis relentlessly targeted its right leg.

By the time the slow effect wore off, the Tongue-Ripper Warden was even slower than before.

From there, it was nothing more than a brutal beatdown by the three chess pieces.

In less than a minute, the Tongue-Ripper Warden lay lifeless.

[Overlevel kill: Chieftain-class monster, Tongue-Ripper Warden. EXP +45%.]

[Void Predator has completed evolution devour: Max HP +12,000.]

[Acquired First Kill Exclusive Drop: Skill Book – Exoskeleton (S).]

[Killed 'Unknown Entity.' Escape permission granted. Exit dungeon?]

[Escape portal closing in: 2:59]

A faintly golden treasure chest hovered over the monster's corpse.

Li Yao glanced at the remains, briefly pondering before deciding to open his spoils immediately—to boost his power on the spot.

Defeating the Tongue-Ripper Warden had seemed easy.

But Li Yao knew better than anyone just how strong it had been.

A 600 Endurance stat.

Without his Goblin Slayer skill boosting damage by 15%, the Void Mantis' attacks would have barely reached 10,000 per hit.

Breaking the Tongue-Ripper Warden's right leg under normal circumstances would have been far harder—

At least requiring another full cycle of slows.

The key issue?

Given the nature of this dungeon, the Tongue-Ripper Warden was probably just a mini-boss.

Nowhere near the true Final Boss.

So to prepare for what lay ahead, Li Yao opted to open the loot now and increase his power.

As for the escape timer?

He outright ignored it.

If he activated Shackles, this so-called exit wouldn't last 30 seconds before he tore it apart.